Nicola Sturgeon has said she believes there is a majority in the House of Commons for staying in the single market.
Speaking on The Andrew Marr show, Scotland's First Minister said by far the best option for the Scottish economy is to stay in the EU and the least damaging is staying in the single market.
She also said she would take a decision on whether to hold a second Scottish independence referendum by the end of the year once the shape of the Brexit deal became known.
She said: "I believe there is a majority in the House of Commons for remaining within the single market if Labour gets its act together.
"The vast majority of Labour members want to see the UK stay in the single market, so if we can bring that consensus together then I believe there is an opportunity.
"Jeremy Corbyn has to decide where he stands on all of this.
"I think most of his supporters will be deeply disappointed that he appears to be only slightly less in favour of a hard Brexit than the Tories are and many will find that completely inexplicable."
READ MORE: Labour grandee says Scottish Government is key to forcing second EU referendum
Ms Sturgeon made the comments before the publication of a detailed study by the Scottish Government on the implications of leaving the European Union.
She said no clarity or certainty has been provided about a hard Brexit's supposed benefits.
The first minister said people wanted to see clarity over the relationship between the UK and Europe.
She added: "At that point, what I've said is that we will look at that and determine at that stage if Scotland should then have the right to choose between whatever that new relationship with the UK is going to be or choosing to be an independent country."
Scottish Government analysis, published on Monday, sets out the impact on Scotland's future economic growth of three options for the future UK relationship with Europe, if the country cannot remain members of the EU.
READ MORE: 'Brexiteers have had their chance and failed'
The study - Scotland's Place in Europe: People, Jobs and Investment - looks at continued membership of the single market, a preferential trade agreement or non-preferential access on World Trade Organisation provisions.
She said: "More than 18 months on from the Brexit vote, it beggars belief that the UK Government is not only still unable to say what kind of relationship it wants with the EU, but has also failed to produce any meaningful economic assessment of the different possibilities.
"Bluntly, the hard Brexiteers have had their chance and failed."
READ MORE: Revealed: Tory MSP Alexander Burnett gets £14,000 a day in his second job
A UK Government spokeswoman said: "We are seeking a deal that works for the whole of the UK, that delivers on the result of the EU referendum.
"Rather than trying to undermine the result of a democratic referendum, we urge the Scottish Government to work with us to ensure, as we leave the EU, we protect the UK's vital internal market.
"Scotland trades four times as much with the rest of the UK as it does with the EU, so it is vital that we ensure that market continues unimpeded."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel